Masks
by arjelle
Summary: Everyone wears one. But sometimes it's in the literal sense. Well that's what happens when you're a hero.
1. Overture

**Masks  
**_Everyone wears one. But sometimes it's in the literal sense. Well that's what happens when you're a hero. USfem!UK._

* * *

If Rose had learned anything for the past month from that stupid hero- what was his name again? Oh yes, Captain Freedom. The man just pranced into her life just a month ago, and somehow got close to her. She had no idea how he had done it, but he did. Sometimes she had questioned why how he had done it, even more when she recalled the first thing he had said to her. It wasn't even a pick up line, well, it kinda was after he was trying to clean his mess up, but still. And even though as much as she would hate to admit it, he knew he was right, as he would keep on pestering her about it. If she had listened, maybe she wouldn't be in the situation she was in now. Trapped in the basement of the villain.

Speaking of the devil... "So, Lady Britannia," Rose flinched. God, just the way the guy said it got under her skin. She tried to inch a little bit farther when the guy pointed a gun at her. She just wanted to punch Marianne in face right now. If it wasn't for her insistance on keeping the cape, maybe she wouldn't be in this situation right now! Rose took in a sharp breath as Red Leaf moved the gun closer to her. "Where is Captain Freedom?"

Rose only glared at Red Leaf, or at least, at his helmet. "Not gonna say it, _Period_ Leaf." Another thing to add to her regret list, right under not listening to Captain Freedom's No Cape Policy.

**Week One, Part One  
**

_One Month Ago;_

Rose sat at the top of a building, hugging her legs as the wind softly moved her hair and made her cape dance. It was almost time for her to go on her night-time job. During the day, she was referred to as Rose Kirkland, a part time waitress. When it was nighttime, she was called Lady Britannia, even though no one really knew it was her. She remembered when she was little when he grandfather had told her stories of extraordinary people who would dress up and help people. She had asked why, and he said it was that they could live regular lives and their loved ones wouldn't get hurt. Rose's fasination on heroes grew over time. Unfortunately, her grandfather died, and his last words were for Rose to grow up and be like the people he told her about in his stories. But Rose took his advice in the literal sense and worked her way up to be the city's hero.

When the sun officially set and it was now evening, she stood up, dusted herself off and adjusted her mask. Rose turned on her heels, but when she did, she was now face to face with another masked person. Now, he didn't _look_ like much of a threat, emphasis on look. The man was wearing a mask, like hers, a white and red striped shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. Over his shirt was what looked to be a cape, only the end was cut off, so it was just the collar. He wore gloves on his hands, a watch strapped on his right and... shiny reflective padding on his shoulders and elbows. He had a strap worn over his chest and a belt, both carrying tubes of some sort, all filled with different colors of liquid. He wore combat boots and tights, but was both amusing and absolutely horrifying were his pair of underwear with a white star pattern over a blue foreground, worn over the grey tights. If Marianne would have seen him, she would have beaten the guy up before giving him proper pants, and if she were having an off day or was drunk, she would probably beat him up again.

"Why are you wearing a cape?" Was the first thing he had asked. Rose was still shocked to find him, and by the tone of his voice, was also appalled by his attitude.

"W-well, why aren't you?" She asked, tripping over her words a bit. Rose might be a really good fast thinker, but that was only through actions, not words, at least, out loud. "And why the bloody hell do you have your underwear out? Didn't your mother teach you how to wear clothes?"

The man chuckled. "Yeah, well at least my costume isn't like a rip-off from Robin's!"

"And what are you supposed to be, hm? A crappier version of Captain America?" Rose retorted.

"Uh-" He laughed a bit more and scratched his head before he strook a pose. "I'm Captain Freedom."

"God," Rose crossed her arms and laughed at him. "You really didn't think this through, did you?"

"I could say the same thing to you-" He paused. Rose rolled her eyes. She grabbed a side of the cape, a hand each, and curtsied. "Aw, why must you be so shy?"

Rose snorted and was about to say something before she was tackled to the ground by Alfred. "What the hell, Freedom?"

"I prefer _Captain,_" Captain Freedom corrected. "And you're welcome, by the way. Look up."

She blinked before she tilted her head up to see a man with long black hair, wearing a ribbon with holes cut eyes for the eyes, a red hat, and casual clothing. That, and he was holding a wok with him. "For fucks sake!"

"Right?" Captain Freedom agreed as he helped Rose up. "Those flip flops are not good for crime fighting, buddy."

Rose punched his arm. "Don't you think he _isn't_ on our side?"

"So we're a team now?" He asked with a grin on his face. "Hey what's up Wok Man! Are you gonna join us?"

"He's not you dolt! Just- fight or flight!"

Captain Freedom blinked before finally, he got the memo, and started running for his life when the guy in the crappily made costume started charging after him with his wok. But the man turned on his heels, lifted his leg up and tossed his flip flop at Captain Freedom's head. Captain Freedom had expected the hit to be something like a cold gust of wind, not entirely hurtful, but still would kind of hurt. But he did not know that this horrible dresser had some foot, so the flip flop was more like a slap to the face. Wok Man, as Captain Freedom dubbed him, began charging for him again.

It had seem that his prime objective was Captain Freedom and not Lady Britannia. Rose _could _just ditch the guy, but he was obviously new to the hero business, so she decided to offer him some help. Because of Wok Man being so focused into beating the hell out of Captain Freedom, who had surprisingly had dodged his every move, Rose took this as an opportunity to take out a disk from her pouch and threw it. The disk slid on the floor and stopped when it was just underneath Wok Man. When it was, Wok Man froze and fell to the floor. Rose smiled and ran to Wok Man to retrieve her disk.

Captain Freedom got up and walked over to Wok Man. He looked at Rose and coughed. "I could have handled it myself, you know."

"That explains why you were on the ground," Rose laughed as she placed the disk back in her pouch.

He merely rolled his eyes before he averted his attention to the attacker. Captain Freedom squinted his eyes, making sure he wasn't seeing things. "No way... it's my landlord."

"What?" Rose scoffed. "You didn't pay your rent?"

Captain Freedom was about to say something before he was hit on his side by the Wok. Wok Man got up, dusted himself off and took off the mask. "Yes, he didn't! And the only way I could get this idiot's attention was to dress up as a villain and make him pay rent. Now-"

"Dude, don't say my real name, that just won't be cool!" Captain Freedom groaned.

Wok Man rolled his eyes and he put his foot over Captain Freedom's chest to keep him down. "Just pay your rent, and I will leave you alone for the rest of the night."

"Alright! Alright!" He said defensively. "I'll give it to you by noon!"

Wok Man nodded and helped his tennant up. "Ok, good night, and good luck on what ever for the both of you. And _Captain Freedom?_"

"Thank you for teaching me your awesome kung-fu moves," He grumbled.

"That reminds me, you have to pay for your lessons too," Wok Man patted his back before he headed towards the door and went down stairs.

Captain Freedom looked at Rose, who was trying to hold back her laughter. He readjusted his mask and dusted himself off. "For the record, this _is _my first fight as Captain Freedom. Plus it was only my landlord _and _kung-fu teacher trying to get my attention, so it doesn't count. That and I was only here to test something. I don't officially start until tomorrow."

"So why did you really come up here?" Rose asked him.

But instead of an answer, Captain Freedom smiled as he walked closer to the ledge. "Before I go," He said as he stepped over the railings. "I just wanna say that you should really lose the cape. For one thing, it'll save your life. And for another," He looked on his strap and silently identified each tube before picking the third on the top. "It's a crime for it to hide a nice ass like yours." He winked at her before continuing. "I hope you lose the cape the next time we meet because I don't wanna turn you in for that."

And with that, he jumped.

Rose quickly ran over to try and get him, but when she looked down, the man was free falling, before he disappeared in a layer of smoke, that faded away in a couple of seconds. She hated to admit it, but she didn't mind seeing his ass again either.

_The Following Day;_

Rose's Lady Britannia shift was over for the day when it became six in the morning. By that time, she had concluded that people would be more aware of their surroundings if there was a villain on the loose at that time. She had slept for around six hours before she realized she had to wake up for her afternoon shift as a waitress. Thankfully, the restaurant was just across the street, so it would only take her around five to ten minutes to get there.

As Rose walked in front of the restaurant, she was fixing her braid while trying to open the door with her elbow. As she was attempting to do so, someone pulled the door open for her. She smiled and nodded as she walked in, and even though she didn't notice it, the man smiled back and took his seat after he walked in. When she finished braiding her hair, she had walked inside the kitchen, and grabbed her apron and began tying it around her waist as she greeted the cooks and other waitresses. She grabbed a notepad and a pen and headed out through the door.

Elizaveta tapped her shoulder and pointed at a table in the corner. "New customer at table nine."

Rose clicked her pen and walked over. "Afternoon, sir, what would you like to have today?"

"A cup of coffee," He yawned. "And some waffles."

"Breakfast ended five minutes ago," She informed him.

"Okay then," He grabbed the menu from the table and flipped over to the lunch menu and scratched his head a bit. "I'll have a sandwhich."

"Which one?" Rose asked.

"Surprise me." After that line, Rose was tempted to spit in the man's food or 'accidentally' spill hot coffee all over him. But then again, it just might've been her grouchiness taking over due to lack of sleep. After she had given the man his order, he stopped writing and called out to her. "Hey, I'm sorry about that. It's just I was up late all night and I couldn't get enough sleep."

"Apology accepted."

As Rose was about to turn on her heels and walked away, the man spoke up. "I'm Alfred F. Jones," And tilted his hat and gave her a smile. "And you are?"

"Heading back to work."

"Hold on, before you do," Alfred took his wallet out from his back pocket and took out two dollar bills and handed it to Rose.

She smiled and took the money from him. "Thank you, Alfred," As she was walking away, Rose was about to pocket her tip. But as she was, she felt something other than bills, she she unfolded the money and found a paper tucked in between.

_'I just met you, and this is crazy. But here's my number,' _He had written his number down under that line. _'So call me maybe?'_

She stared at it, rather baffled at him and she turned around to see him look up from his notebook. He smiled, tipped his hat, and waved his finger around in a circular direction. Rose rolled her eyes and walked back in the kitchen. When she got in, she looked at the paper and turned it around.

_'You've got a nice ass, by the way. I hope I can see it again.'_

* * *

**Notes** This fanfic is a birthday gift for Pie uwu. Oh and to see the costumes for Rose and Alfred in the story, just go to my profile, and there should be a link there.


	2. The Moose Bot

**Masks  
**_Everyone wears one. But sometimes it's in the literal sense. Well that's what happens when you're a hero. USfem!UK._

* * *

_"Also, it seems that Lady Britannia has made yet another remarkable act last night as she prevented of what could have been a night filled with chaos! It was three in the morning when the notorious duo, the Roman Warrior and Masterpiece struck last night at the art gallery. They had outrun the security, and because of the chase, some vehicles had to make a quick turn or a quick stop. Fortunately, everyone is safe, only getting a few minor injuries. And also, it seemed that she had caught one out of two of the duo! The Roman Warrior has been taken into custody by 3:45 AM, now he is locked away in the Mundi Capitolium Prison Unit. Unfortunately, his accomplice, Masterpiece got away and the Roman Warrior has refused to speak since he was brought in the prison unit. But knowing that we have Lady Britannia, we have a sense of hope and security. This is World Capitol News Reporter, Carmen Fernandez Carredio, signing off." _

**Week One, Part Two**

"So tell me what you want, what you really really want," After the broadcast, the radio station had switched back to its regular schedule, kicking off with Wannabe from the Spice Girls. In the bathroom of the small apartment, the radio was on the highest volume as its current resident, Alfred F. Jones was washing his hair... and singing along to it. "I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna really, really, really wanna zigazig AHHH. Oh shit! My eyes! My-" He rinsed his eyes with the water, and dry it with his towel. When he was done, he blinked his eyes, regaining his ability to somwhat see and resumed singing along with the song. When he was done rinsing his hair, he turned the shower off, and began drying himself off. Even though this man has sung along to this song for a while now, he has never got one of the verses down, so he only hummed along to it as he dried his hair.

Once the song was over, he was beginning to dress himself, already putting on his pants. He hopped over to the radio, turning it off, and finished dressing himself. When he did, he walked in front of his mirror and gave himself a huge grin. "Sup, me," He greeted, nodding to his reflection. "Sup, back," he replied. "Today's the day, me, get ready to be awesome sons of bitches today," And he procceded to hive his reflection a hi-five, screaming "Fuck yeah!" Afterwards. He would chest bump his reflection, but there was a sink in between, so there was that problem.

Alfred proceeded to walk outside of his bathroom, grab his keys on his night stand, and walk out of his room. When he walked down the three flights of stairs and through the lobby of his apartment building, he went to the Dunkin' Donuts across the street for breakfast. After that, he went back across the street to the garage, carrying a box of donuts and a tray carrying four cups of coffee. Alfred pressed the button for the elevator, and once he was in, he pressed the button for the basement. He was thankful for the day his landlord let him have his science lab there, even more when the price was lowered, thanks to Kiku and Ivan, his two Science Buds. Kiku convinced Yao that he would help out more as the co-owner of the apartment complex, Ivan offering to take him out on more dates. After the two softening up, Yao had eventually lowered the price, but demanded that Alfred would pay for his rent in both his apartment and the lab in time.

Once the elevator had reached the basement, Alfred walked down the stairs and to a table setting the donuts and coffee down. "Feast up guys! Today's the day!"

Kiku set his book down and Ivan sat up from his hammock before getting off of it. "Alfred, Matthew already gave us pancakes."

"What?" Matthew turned the swivel chair to face Alfred and gave him a grin. "Dude that's not cool, I already bought the donuts and coffee."

"How was I supposed to know that you were gonna do that?" Matthew asked his roommate. "Anyways, more to eat, right? Here's your share."

"I guess," Alfred grumbled as Kiku passed the plate to him.

"Come on, Al, don't be like that. Today's the day you're gonna start your superhero duties, what's making you so upset-?" Matthew paused before glancing at Alfred, who took a long drink from his coffee. He sighed deeply. "Is it because the waitress from that diner hasn't called you back yet?"

A small mumble from Alfred was made. Matthew assumed he meant to say, "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Don't you think she's busy? You know, being a waitress and all? She might have late hours or something."

"Or she's already with someone, or maybe she's just not that into me..." Matthew groaned. He started using movie titles in his sentences. Not a good sign at all.

Matthew was about to knock some sense into Alfred, but it had seemed that Ivan had already gotten there before he did. The Russian man flicked Alfred's forehead. Alfred grumbled and was about to say something, but Ivan interrupted him. "You want to be a hero, yes?"

"Yes, why do you even question that?"

"Then stop this sulking and use this waitress you are talking about as your motivation. Think that by being a hero," Ivan patted Alfred's shoulder. "You will make this city a better place for her, comrade. But..."

"...But? But what!? Dude you just ruined your own motivational speech what's this _'but'_ you're talking about?"

"Well you won't have a happy ending if you didn't pay Yao your rent, so did you?"  
"He did," Kiku spoke up. "I delivered it to him."

"Good," Ivan smiled. "You shall have a happy ending."

The day was filled with checking and analyzing Alfred's costume. Kiku and Alfred had also gone through which chemicals were to be used for and which chemicals were safe to combine. Alfred and Ivan had practiced hand-to-hand combat, with Ivan giving Alfred advices on shot cuts for getting around the city and a review on how to use his grappling hook launcher. Matthew worked on a blue tooth for Alfred to use so he can contact him of any danger in the area. And all through this training, they were listening songs from Alfred's iPod. So it was a day filled with listening to mostly Elvis Presley, ACDC, and the Beatles, the Spice Girls only popping up for breaks.

By sunset, Alfred was on the roof of the apartment complex, looking over the city with a smile on his face. Today was gonna be the day alright. He remembered when he first proposed his idea of being a superhero to Matthew, Kiku, and Ivan. They all questioned why he would do such a thing, as there already was a hero for their city, even though they all knew Alfred's dream of being a superhero. Alfred explained that if he became a superhero, there would be less crimes in the city, plus he and Lady Britannia had the same goals: helping people out, so it didn't even matter. Knowing that they would lose the argument in the end, the three agreed to carry out Alfred's dream.  
Alfred had landed a job in Vogel Enterprises, a company that focused on the sciences and engineering, sometimes combing the two subjects. Matthew had gotten a place in the Robotic Engineering division; Kiku was hired into the tech support division; Ivan had a tough time choosing between the Bio Engineering and the Ariel-Space Division, but had eventually chosen to go to the Bio-Engineering Division; and Alfred, he applied for the Ariel-Space Division, and had gotten a place. In all honesty, they would have gotten a lab there, seeing as the current CEO, Lily Vogel, was a very kind person. Although, it had seemed that there was no available labs in there, much to their displeasure. But seeing as they got a lab anyways in the basement of their apartment building, thanks to Yao, and they had managed to do their work in there, plus Alfred's superhero project, it was all good.

He put on a big grin, spread his arms out, and whispered, "Fucking fuck yeah... I can taste the freedom I'll be spreading already."

Unfortunately for Matthew, who was behind Alfred, got hit when he spread his arms out, causing him to curse, but at the same time, trying to be silent. Alfred opened his eyes and saw Matthew. "For fuck's sake, Alfred! You gotta stop doing that."

"Dude, you were the one creeping behind me, you should stop that," Alfred retorted. "Are you ok?"

"Well, considering the fact that you just hit me, I think your soon to be enemies won't be," And with that, the two broke out into a small fit of laughter before they headed back to the basement so that Alfred could do his costume change.

When they returned back to the basement, Alfred changed into his Captain Freedom costume. He equipped the bullet belt (replaced with the small tubes of chemicals) over his chest and his belt which held his grappaling hook launcher and some other gadgets he thought would be useful. After that, he adjusted his star-spangled underwear over his black tights and double checked if his boots were properly tied. He slipped his black gloves on and wrapped his red watch over his right glove before he synchronized it. After that, Matthew, Kiku, and Ivan followed him up to the roof to see him off. Once they got there, they gave Alfred another brief review of his costume and things he should do. When they were done, Matthew gave Alfred his mask.

It didn't take a while for something to come up on Matthew's phone (he had also rigged it so it could have police report updates), so Alfred nodded to his friends before he stepped over the ledge. "Remember that you can only use each tube once, it does not refill magically. Also, the tubes aren't bullet proof yet, so please try not to smash them."

"Also, be careful with the alleys and tunnels," Ivan added.  
"Just becareful, period," Matthew chimmed.

"Got it!" Alfred sighed exhasperated. "Have some faith in me, alright?"

"Got it," the three echoed.

Alfred grinned, and adjusted his mask before he made his way to a tree branch. He hopped off the tree branch and began running, making his way to Eighth Street.

_**Meanwhile, on Eighth Street...**_

"Lukas, the mysterious object seems to be a moose, a robotic-looking one at that," An officer reported as he peeked over the hood of the car. "Good thing is that it's not ticking. But then it won't be a mystery. Get it?"

"This is no time to be joking around, damnit Mathias, get your shit together!" Lukas hissed. "I want that thing out of here in the safest way possible. But first, we have to figure out if what the hell that moose would do."

"It appears to be..." He squinted his eyes. "A robotic... moose? Did someone's science project get out? Holy crap-"

"What is it this time?" Lukas rolled his eyes before taking the binoculars away from his partner.

"It's eyes are red," Mathias squeaked. "I think we've watched enough shows to know what red eyes on robots mean."

Lukas cocked his gun as he turned around to aim the moose. He let out a sigh as he aimed at the moose. "Mathias, you're such a-" He paused, cauing Mathias to hold his breath. A couple feet away from them, the moose took a step forward and rotated its head to face Lukas. The Norwegian man let out a small gasp as the moose's antlers panned down so the points would face him. And before he knew it, it started shooting out bullets; luckily, he had ducked in time to dodge the first set. As soon as he did, he was about to say something to his partner, but the man only gave him an "I told you" stare. "Don't you dare do this to me. A robotic animal of mass destruction is shooting bullets at us and you want me to admit that I'm wrong?"

Mathias nodded. "Fine. I was wrong and you were right," Lukas grumbled. "Now help me destroy this thing."

"Gotcha," He replied, as he cocked his rifle. The two, along with the other police officers waited until the moose had stopped shooting bullets. When that happened, the men in the front line had begun shooting the moose, but it was proved to be useless, as their bullets only made minor damage such as small dents on the moose.

"Ah, shit! We're totally fucked! I love this century and all the technology that goes with it but damnit! Why the hell do some people have to ruin that with this evil bullshit!?" Mathias cursed as he reloaded his rifle and resumed shooting at the damned moose, aming at its head, but to no avail.

Fuck, did he ever hate moose and robotics right now.

As the police officers were shooting away at the moose, Rose, fully dressed in her Lady Britannia attire sat atop of a building nearby, getting her weapon ready. Her choice of weapon for this particlar assignment was a small boomerang; blunt, yet sharp enough to hopefully cut the antlers off of that moose. She let in a small breath as she readied herself, feeling a small breeze to the west, she shifted a bit to the right. When she exhaled, she aimed the small boomerang at the moose's antlers, and when it took flight, Rose sat still, holding her breath once more, until... the boomerang had cut the antler clean off.

She cheered silently from her spot as she saw the robotic moose swaying, trying to reposition itself when its antler got cut off. When the moose had caught itself, Rose sighed deeply and took out another boomerang for the other antler. But as she did, she saw the moose facing in her direction, and the eyes glow two times before it began shooting in her direction with its one antler. Rose cursed under her breath as she was tackled by a person.

As the bullets fired above their heads, the person rolled over, and Rose looked to her side to see who it was. "Dear God, not you again."

"Hey," Captain Freedom replied. "I just saved your life."

Rose blinked. "The last time I saw you, you just had a regular American accent."

"Well, last time I saw _you_, I told you to loose the cape," He shrugged. "We can't all fufill expectations now, can we?"

"Okay, Captain Freedom," Rose hissed. "Mind using that sass against the moose?"

"Why, I'd be honored to," He grinned. Just as when the moose had stopped its shooting, he whipped out his grappling hook launcher and aimed at the moose's second antler. But unlike Lady Britannia's first aim, Captain Freedom's missed the target by a few inches. "Fuck, the thing moved!"

He pushed a button to retract the hook. When it had returned to the launcher, he was about to refire, but unfortunately, the moose was ready before he was. Lady Britannia leaped in front of him, grabbing the side of her cape as she did, and pulled it over the two of them, deflecting the bullets aimed at them. He moved his hand away from Lady Britannia and pressed the trigger down, releasing the hook once more. At first, he didn't see the outcome for this trial, as Lady Britannia had pushed him and herself down. "And that's why I keep the cape," When the got up, they saw the moose's second antler off.

Captain Freedom let out a laugh, but it was quickly interrupted by Lady Britannia. "Oh come on, it can't be this easy."

And as soon as she said that, the moose had fell over, and at the same time, popping open the top of its head. But instead of just wires and a battery, inside was a bomb. Lady Britannia squinted her eyes to see what it was, only to groan in displeasure. "Typical. Whenever there's a robot that gets defeated, there just _always_ _happens_ to be a bomb with it! Alright, Captain, aim your grappling hook down so we can get there faster."

"As much as I would love to, and I would- I can't," He pointed down to where the launcher was. "It's down there."

Lady Britannia grumbled as unattached the rope from her belt and attached a hook to it before she released it, aiming at a light pole. Once it was wrapped securly on the base of the light pole, she tied the rope to a pipe on the roof. After making sure that the rope was safe and secure, she tossed her cape over it and stood at the edge of the building and slid down. When she had gotten back on the ground, Captain Freedom untied the rope from the pipe, and tugged on it a few times for the rope to unwrap from the pole. Once it did, he pulled the rope closer to him before aiming at the bulding across from where he was. When the hook grabbed on the edge of the building, he stepped over the ledge, and swung down from it. When he reached the ground, he tugged on the rope again so it can unhook itself from the building. After it was, he walked to the time-bomb of a moose, walking against the crowd of police officers as he rewrapped the rope and retrieved his grappling hook launcher back.

In front of the moose-bomb sat a man, obviously a part of the Bomb Squad, and a box of tools next to him. He peered to look at how much time they had left.

Five minutes.

Typical.

Captain Freedom took another look at the set of wires and back at the man. He was quite nervous, his fingers hovering over the wires, about to cut one, but always pulling his hand back from the wire before cutting it. The robotic moose's head was of course, missing its antlers. Its eyes weren't glowing anymore, but only, its right eye was flickering on and off as the left remained out. And this is when it hit him.

"It's the eye," And when the man, or assuming that it was the owner of the tool box next to him, Tino, heard this, he immediately shattered the eye of the moose. He glanced at the timer to make sure, only to see that it stopped.

When he had made sure that the bomb was indeed disarmed, Alfred took off from the scene. As he was running through the alley, he saw something move- like a loose piece of clothing.

Most likely Lady Britannia.

He sighed and ran after her. Where he was, it was dark, only letting in very few sources of light. From what he could see, she had tied up her hair, which is a smart thing to do. Something she refused to do with her cape. It was pretty cool of how it could deflect bullets and all, but... He reached out and grabbed the tip of it, and pulled her close. "You see, Lady, this is why you don't wear capes, you can get caught and-"

As they moved into a spot with more light, Alfred got a better look at her face, but instead of seeing the usual messy blond hair and masked face, he saw auburn hair, tied up into a pony tail. And instead of a mask, the woman wore red face paint upon her. Her red lips curled into a frown as she pushed Alfred against a wall. "You know, it upsets me that you could mistake me for the woman who put my brother behind bars."

She pulled out a pocket knife from her sleeve. "But the fact that I got an accomplice of hers without even trying," Masterpiece chuckled as she drew the small knife closer to Alfred's face. "It makes me a bit happier..." The knife had finally settled next to his eyes and under the string of his mask. "To know who you are," And there goes the mask. "And with that, I'll be closer to taking down that bitch."

As soon as she knew the mask fell off, she begun pulling Alfred closer to the light, but was immediately stopped when Lady Britannia tossed her rope over her and tightened it, making sure that her hands were far away from Captain Freedom as much as possible. "Listen Masterpiece," She called out as she walked closer to her. "He is in no way affiliated with me, so you don't need to unmask him."

"Alright sugar queen," Masterpiece wiggled her way out of the rope. "I'll give the guy a second chance. But you? None."

She grabbed her dropped pocket knife and began charging at Lady Britannia. As soon as Masterpiece was running towards her, Lady Britannia grabbed a scrap piece of metal from the ground and blocked Masterpiece's knife. When the knife had stabbed the object, the process of Masterpiece aiming and Lady Britannia blocking repeated before Lady Britannia squatted and sweeped her leg to knock Masterpiece over. As soon as Masterpiece was knocked over, she jumped back on her feet and was about to attack again before a pair of hands grabbed her wrists and cuffed them to a pipe.

As soon as she was cuffed, Lady Britannia grabbed Captain Freedom's arm and begun running away from Masterpiece. As they did, Masterpiece grumbled and picked up her knife from the ground by her feet. As soon as she got the knife, she threw it over her head to break the soon as she was released, she took her knife from the pipe, which blew out steam as soon as she took it off. She stepped back a few steps away from the steam and started to cut through the steel cuffs as she walked. After a few minutes, her hands were completely free form the cuffs and she smiled at her knife before retracting it and placing it back on a strap on her arm under her sleeve.

A retractable diamond knife was probably the best steal her grandfather ever did for her.

"Here," After unfolding an object from her belt pocket, she tossed it over to Captain Freedom, who was standing in a corner, away from the light. "I always bring a spare. But I never thought it would come in handy."

Captain Freedom caught the mask and put it on. "It feels so tight and shit, you look a bit blurry. Oh well, I guess I have to deal with it."

"Of course it's tight," She replied. "Your head is far bigger than mine. And what do you mean blurry? If you usually wear glasses, why not wear contacts?"

"Because," Captain Freedom explained as he begun walking along the alley with Lady Britannia. "I don't know about you, but I have some friends of mine helping me with well," He guestured at himself. "All of this. And, one of them just so happened to modify a mask so that I don't have to wear contacts. I have no idea about you, but it just freaks me out having to poke my eye and just," He shook a bit. "I guess I'm gonna have to tell him that the mask broke. Alright, Lady, do you have to do anything to your eyes?"

"I wear contacts. But a friend of mine got someone to make it so that it I can go underwater with it, it won't freeze over, can withstand high amounts of heat, and last but not least, it won't be irritable," She explained.

"Sounds expensive," He frowned.

"Not really, the guy owed her, so she got a lot for free," She paused. "Do you want a pair?"

"Like I said, I don't like poking my eyes out," Captain Freedom reminded her. "But anyways, thank you for the mask. But I gotta go."

"Leaving the rest of the night to the Lady? How kind of you."

"I would love to stroll the streets patrolling with you, but with me partly blind and this mask cutting off a bit of circulation to my head, I don't think I can make it," He joked.

"Ah," Lady Britannia nodded. "That's right."

"Some other time, maybe?"

"It's not a date."

Captain Freedom smirked. "Never said it was."

"Well played, Captain," She chuckled. "But unfortunately, I have plans coming up."

"To be respected," He replied. "I'm kind of waiting on somebody right now."

Lady Britannia nodded. "Well, good luck on that."

"Good luck on what ever it is you're planning to do."

After that conversation, Alfred headed back to his apartment building and knocked on the basement doors three times rapidly, whispering, "Open please" until the doors were opened by Ivan. As soon as it did, Alfred hopped into the basement, taking the tight mask off. "Shit, that thing is tight."

"What?" Kiku asked. "I thought I had adjusted it just fine?"

"Well... it got cut..." Alfred laughed sheepishly before he ducked into the bathroom.

"It got what!?" Matthew exclaimed from his seat. "Did anybody see you?"

"How did you get the spare mask?" Ivan questioned.

Alfred remained silent as he changed in the bathroom. Matthew, taking this the wrong way, groaned. "God Alfred, you had _one_ job! Well technically two, or even three basic ones, but what ever! It's only your first official fight and you got your mask and even your identity ripped away from you. How could you-"

"Well first off, my identity is safe as it can be," Alfred stated as he opened the door, now fully changed into his civillian clothing. "Secondly, the mask was given to me by Lady Britannia herself."

"So," Ivan scratched his head. "Are you still into this waitress, or has your affections translated to Lady Britannia?"

"What?" Alfred scoffed. "Lady Britannia just knew where I was coming from and gave me her spare mask, you know, as a friendly guesture? It's not like she was making moves on me or anything. Besides, she has plans and I do too."

"I sense a love triangle awakening," Kiku whispered to Ivan, who nodded in agreement.

"There is no love triange," He said when he heard Kiku whispering to Ivan. "Lady Britannia and Captain Freedom are just aquaintences right now. Meanwhile, Alfred and the waitress, who by the way has a name-"

"You didn't mention it," Matthew interrupted.

"Rose. Her name is Rose," Alfred continued as he walked up the stairs. "Anyways, I plan to get to know her more. And if she doesn't well, I guess I have to move on. No furthur questions, I'm tired so good night."

As soon as the door closed shut, Matthew sighed. "First day as a hero and already he's turned into a diva. Nice job you two."

"You bombarded him with questions," Kiku said.

"Well you- ugh, whatever," Matthew sighed. "Let's just stop and go to sleep before Al's groouchiness catches up to us."

"Agreed."

The next day, Alfred was at work and was working on an equation for the assignment he was given. He looked at the white board, shook his head, and erased a number for the forty second time. Or at least, the forty second time starting from when he started counting. For a while, he resumed staring at the board until he heard his phone vibrate from his pocket.

He averted his attention from the white board and to answering his phone. When he took his phone out, the first thing he saw was that he got a message from Rose. Alfred frantically opened his inbox open to read the first few lines of her text.

_'Sorry for the delay. I've been swamped with work and ended up dead tired. I'm sorry to say that I can't anytime soon...'_

He frowned, but opened to see the full message. If anything, she would have described why she can't make a date. Something that Alfred would understand completely and won't feel bad towards it. He just hoped he won't read,_ '...because I'm dating someone already. But I hope we can be friends.' _Oh how he wished he wouldn't read that. He just wanted to read the whole message, but his eyes darted to the first few words.

_ '...but, I suppose I have time on Saturday.'_

And that's what all he needed right now; as a relief, and for the equation. He reached over and wrote six numbers in the blank places.

_ 06...23...12._

And it fit perfectly.

**Notes **For a quick reference, Masterpiece is fem!Italy. The Roman Warrior is Lovino. Their granddad, Empire, will be mentioned more later on. Other than that, their costumes have already been added in the Superhero AU tag. To check it out, just scroll down to my profile, you you should find a link to see all costumes. I haven't colored these two costumes yet though, the computer I usually use for art is on the brink of dying. Stay tuned for the next chapter!


	3. Rise

**Masks  
**_Everyone wears one. But sometimes it's in the literal sense. Well that's what happens when you're a hero. USfem!UK._

* * *

He was expected to do a lot of things.

When he was little, he was expected to be the greatest along with his grandfather, known as Empire. He was expected to be a good big brother when his little sister was born. He was expected by his grandfather to be better than his younger sister. He was expected by his family to carry out their legacy and carrying out the lineage of the greatest villains ever known. He was expected by society to follow. He had fulfilled to that expectation, along with his sister.

"Mister _Roman Warrior_," _Now_, he was caught, and was expected to talk. "Are you ready yet?"

**Week One, Part Three**

The Roman Warrior was a work in progress when he had first started out, only doing small crimes such as bank or house robberies and the like. But as time had progressed, he had expanded it to ransoms, death threats that were like promises that would be kept and executed, and trafficking of drugs. And then his little sister had joined him. When she did, they had teamed up to steal art and hold them as ransom for an amount of time before selling them on the black market. It had helped, having someone watching your back, but it seemed that Masterpiece didn't need any. She was, in the Roman Warrior's words, a _"work of art"_.

When she was born, and then eventually reached the age where she would be able to fight, she surpassed every expectation thrown at her. As for him, he had a slim chance of succeeding. He was always beaten up by his little sister, and as much as he put his effort into his work, he felt that he never amounted to anything. He had gone through many trials and errors in his practice, studied how to fight and steal, and had executed them properly. But, even so, it was never good as the way his little sister had done her work.

She was more fast, more nimble, more quick on her feet, and light on her toes. Like a true prodigy.

At some point in his teenage years, his grandfather had fallen from his pedestal when he had done a heroic deed instead of a terrible crime. At first, they had all assumed it was just a fluke, or part of a bigger plan. But they were incorrect when they had discovered that his grandfather lived on to be a hero. When that happened, they had all accepted that the Empire had fallen. And at that point, he was expected to carry on what his grandfather didn't.

He was good at it, and eventually found a name for himself- _"the Roman Warrior"._ A small tribute to his grandfather, though, he never mentioned it to anybody. But no one has even figured it out. Except for his little sister, that was to be expected. The Roman Warrior and Masterpiece had teamed up, eventually, and was a known duo of evil for World Capitol City. Too bad there was also the known hero, Lady Britannia.

The Roman Warrior and Masterpiece were doing so well; committing crimes over and over, as they were never caught. The duo strategized their actions, practiced their fights, and figured out how to escape beforehand. Unfortunately for them, Lady Britannia had picked up their strategies and used it against them when she had caught the Roman Warrior into a corner. When this happened, he only told his sister to go and bust him out of prison later, a promise that Masterpiece is still keeping. So in the end, Masterpiece had escaped, and the Roman Warrior was now behind bars.

Technically, he was in an almost empty room. The room had a bed with sheets, a pillow, and a blanket; it also had white tiles and white colored walls. He was given food and water through a slot in a sealed door. But what had interested him the most was a window in the ceiling that had shown the sky. Were they just stupid, or were trying to tell him something?

And that's when it hit him. He felt so pathetic and weak. He had gone through all of his trials and errors, he had practiced over and over, and he was going to be a notorious villain. But just as he was rising to his expectations, he was immediately knocked down. He was never given a chance. Thinking about it, he was never given options either; he was always expected to go down a certain path, but that one path only. No exceptions.

He looked up at the window; the sky was dark, only lit up by the stars light years away from where he was. Like how his dreams to be a great villain as his grandfather were. But was it really his dream? He was just told to do this and that, and he had followed his instructions. More importantly, why would they just leave the window in his room like that? There was the bed long enough for him to reach the window; it looked pretty breakable, too.

And so, the Roman Warrior had jumped to his feet and went over to his bed. He dragged it to the center of the room, just under the window before he had started his attempts to rotate the bed into a vertical angle. The bed stood up, with the help of his strength, and when it did, the mattress and everything that came with it fell to the floor. But most importantly, the bed had stayed there, and it had bars, making it all easier for him to do his climb. He smiled to himself as he begun going up the bed and eventually, he was just a few inches away from the window. And just as he was about to break the glass, he stopped.

He sat on the frame of his bed and looked down to the floor. Why couldn't he do it? It would be so simple to do so! He had broken through many windows in his times as a villain, so why couldn't he do it now? They had given him the perfect opportunity to escape... but why couldn't he?

_Because, _he thought. _They gave you another path. And seeing as this is the first time anyone's ever given you another option, you want to take it. Think about it. Was grandfather given an option until his fall? Live up to your own expectations for once._

The Roman Warrior remained silent.

It had only taken him a few days, but he had gotten it. He was lying down on his bed, head on his pillow, looking up at the window above him. When he heard the door knock, he sat upright and turned to the person at the door.

"I heard some noise," He had said.

"I wanted to move my bed so I can see the window when I look up," He shrugged, gesturing to the new location of his bed. "Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, although, I have a question to ask. You may have heard this question a lot already but we figured you wouldn't give us a proper answer unless one of us asked you in person... and properly. So... My name is Ludwig, I'm the one in charge to making sure you stay put," The guard had begun. "And may I ask if you're ready to talk, Mister Roman Warrior?"

"Please," He chuckled and extended his arm for a handshake. "Call me Lovino."

* * *

**Notes** I wanted to do a quick chapter on Lovino's part in the story. From now on, he's officially chosen the path to become neutral; neither being villain nor a hero. Next chapter shall be the date between Rose and Alfred.


End file.
